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Immortal
Immortals are a species of supernatural beings that are truly immortal and cannot be killed by any weapon. The term "immortal" is used to describe the species into which Silas and Amara, the very first immortal beings in history, were transformed when they consumed the immortality elixir created by the witch Qetsiyah. Immortals can be considered as the template for vampires. However, immortals differ from Original Vampires and regular vampires in many different ways, and vice versa. The biggest of those differences being that they are still alive, rather than being undead like vampires, who must die after ingesting vampire blood so their bodies can be magically reanimated. They also do not possess superhuman physical powers to the same level as vampires; however, an immortal possesses far superior range of psychic abilities than vampires. History Ancient History Over 2,000 years ago in Ancient Greece, a young and powerful witch named Silas desired immortality, the ability to live forever without ever aging or dying. Silas was engaged to be married to another powerful witch named Qetsiyah. Silas told her that he wanted to be with her forever, and never wanted to be parted from her, even by death. Silas asked her to help him create the Elixir of Immortality, also known as the Immortality Spell. Silas and Qetsiyah created the elixir of immortality together and decided to consume it during their wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, Qetsiyah quickly realized that the elixir had already been consumed when all of the plants around the altar began to wilt and die. She discovered that Silas did not intend to use immortality to spend eternity with her, but instead share it with another woman, one whom Silas was truly in love with: Qetsiyah's handmaiden, Amara. Qetsiyah immediately became enraged with jealousy and wanted instant revenge. Therefore, she created a cure for immortality prior to enacting her plan for vengeance. She confronted and desiccated Amara first before entombing her and making it look as though she had killed her to try to convince Silas to take the cure and spend the rest of their mortal lives together. After Silas angrily refused this offer, she lured Silas to a remote island, desiccated him like she did his lover, and buried him in a magically-protected tomb along with the cure deep underground. Qetsiyah then created the Other Side, a limbo or purgatory meant for the souls of dead supernatural beings, which she bound to the now-immortal and desiccated Amara, using her as a physical anchor between the living and the dead. Qetsiyah's main goal was for Silas to be forced to take the cure to avoid an eternity of entombment, die a mortal death (i.e. become a witch again), then die before being reunited with Qetsiyah on the Other Side for eternity, and therefore never allowing Silas to reunite with Amara in the afterlife. However, Silas knew this was Qetsiyah's intention, and, as a result, he resisted taking the cure for over two thousand years, hoping that someday he would be freed so he could destroy the Other Side, take the cure, and then die to reunite with Amara in the peaceful afterlife for eternity in spite of his vengeful ex-fiancée. Legacy Since the burial of Silas and petrification of Amara, the immortality spell has been known to be replicated twice; once in the creation of what came to be known as the Original Vampires, and then a second time in the remaking of Alaric Saltzman as an Enhanced Original. Both these times imperfect variants of immortals were created that had had weaknesses that could lead to their demise, as Nature had deemed that everything on Earth must have a weakness and had already had to compensate for the creation of immortals by creating doppelgängers to die in their place. Original vampires could be killed by the white oak stake, and Alaric died because his life-force was bound to Elena Gilbert's. Original vampires could turn humans into vampires using their blood but they would not be as strong, nor would they be immune to nature's wrath in the same way as the Originals - they could be killed by far more methods than Originals themselves. The Release of Silas To get the cure, which was in Silas' fossilized hands, Bonnie Bennett stated that they had to wake him up in order to retrieve the cure from his hands. Later Katherine Pierce used Jeremy Gilbert to feed Silas enough to awaken him, leading Silas to ultimately Jeremy dry before snapping his neck. After he fed, Silas released himself from his cave. Silas was now free to initialize his ultimate plan to complete the Expression Triangle, and use Bonnie to permanently lower the veil separating the Other Side from the living world, allowing all of the dead supernatural creatures to return to their corporeal bodies. Once the veil was down, Silas could safely take the cure and die so he could pass on to the afterlife and be reunited with his true love, Amara, whom he still believed to be dead. Because he planned to commit suicide, Silas did not care about the chaos and destruction that would be done to the earth by the return of two thousand years worth of resurrected supernatural beings returning to life. After Bonnie died, and Elena shoved the cure down Katherine' throat, Silas' plan to take the cure himself was ruined. He then roamed the earth freely while planning for his revenge. The End of the Immortals Once Silas realized that the cure remained in the blood of the person who ingested it for the rest of their lives, Silas fed on Katherine in order to cure himself with her blood and returned to being a mortal witch as he was prior to drinking the immortality elixir. He later discovered that he had been deceived by Qetsiyah regarding Amara's death two thousand years earlier-- instead of killing her like Qetsiyah claimed, she had actually desiccated her and bound the Other Side to her immortal life to ensure that even if Silas broke out of his tomb, he would never have the heart to destroy his true love. Silas found her and awakened her with the blood of a Traveler he had killed, but Amara, driven to near-insanity after acting as the Anchor to the Other Side and feeling the deaths of supernaturals for two millennia, Amara stabbed Silas and drank his blood, using the cure in his veins to render herself mortal as well. Silas, wishing for them both to die so they can go to the afterlife together, tried to kill Amara by slitting her throat as she asked, but Stefan interrupted him and killed Silas instead in punishment for Silas' torture against him. After Silas was killed, Amara took the same knife that Stefan threw at Silas to kill him and stabbed herself in the stomach, which resulted in Amara's death. Fortunately for Qetsiyah, the witch was able to transfer the status of Anchor to the Other Side to Bonnie, which meant that while Amara, as a human, was able to move on to find eternal peace in the afterlife, Silas was trapped on the Other Side, just as Qetsiyah had intended. Qetsiyah killed herself soon after, leaving Silas trapped with her for eternity. In 2012, Silas attempted to resurrect himself with the Travelers' resurrection spell to ensure that his spirit would not be lost when the Other Side inevitably collapsed due to the Magic Purification spell, but before he could be brought back, he was sucked into oblivion, leaving it next to impossible to bring him back and officially bringing the truly immortal species to an end. Nature Immortals appear to have a physical form completely identical to that of a human, and do not have another form in addition to their human aspects, unlike their vampire cousins, who have a "true face" that causes the sclera of their eyes and the blood vessels surrounding them to swell and darken with blood. Immortals, like vampires, require blood to live and maintain their supernatural abilities. However, unlike vampires, they have no fangs. When Silas had to feed he cut his victims with a knife (primarily on the wrists) in order for him to be able to feed on them, and Amara had to use a large glass shard to cut Silas' throat so she could drink the cure from his blood. Powers and Abilities Immortals possess supernatural physical and psychic abilities. Although they are the first vampiric lifeforms to exist, their physical abilities e.g. their strength and speed etc. are noticeably inferior to that of vampires created from Esther's ritual, and do not increase over time. However, their psychic powers grow stronger with human blood and by simply honing them with intensive practice over time. *'Immortality:' Immortals possess an infinite life span and are thus, immune to aging, all known diseases and illnesses and death by any conventional means. Unlike all other known semi-immortal beings like vampires and Original vampires, immortals are truly and unconditionally immortal and can't be killed by any known means. *'Accelerated Healing Factor:' Immortals, having unconditional immortality, are able to regenerate from any damage sustained on their bodies. Their bones snap back into place after being broken, and they have been seen to fully recover from gunshots, stab wounds, snapped necks, and torso impalement. A steady diet of blood allows for an even faster healing factor. *'Advanced Immunity:' Because of their unconditional immortality, immortals are immune to all known weaknesses of regular vampires. They're immune to wooden weapons, sunlight, vervain, werewolf bites, decapitation, heart extraction or fire and are able to walk freely into a home without being invited by the owner first. Their bodies are supposedly completely indestructible. * Psychic Powers: Immortals possess various advanced psychic abilities which they can develop to affect any species such as humans, witches, Original vampires, vampires, werewolves and hybrids, which they appear to be able to do even at vast distances. In fact, immortals are the only known species who have abilities powerful enough to incapacitate and/or compel Original vampires. After intensive practice and consumption of exceptional amounts of blood, immortals can even affect multiple targets with their psychic abilities, and Silas, the strongest of their kind, was once able to mind-control an entire crowd full of people and make them forget afterward. This ability seems to grow stronger with age, practice, and significant consumption of blood. Only members of The Brotherhood of the Five and those beings possessed by Travelers using Passenger spells are immune to these abilities. **'Illusions:' Immortals have the power to create powerful illusions. They are able to use these illusions on anyone they desire, no matter how powerful. The ability to cause illusions also allows a form of shapeshifting, since they can cause beings to believe that they are seeing the Immortal in the form of another. They can be used on multiple people in multiple locations simultaneously. They can keep themselves at a physically safe distance while casting illusions. The illusions have been proven sufficient against many vampires capable of brute force. Silas, despite in his weakened state after having just been awoken from desiccation, was able to cast illusions convincing enough to actually make Bonnie, a witch who is typically immune from all mental manipulation, into thinking that he was Atticus Shane. He also managed to convince the Original hybrid, Klaus, that he had broken the tip of the indestructible white oak stake into his back and left him on the verge of death as it scraped against his heart-- it wasn't until he experienced great emotional upheaval with Caroline Forbes that Klaus was able to break himself free from it. **'Voice Mimicry: ' When they use their illusions to appear as someone else, immortals are able to change their voice to whatever they want, using their voice in addition to their appearance to trick their victims into believing that they are truly who they are pretending to be. **'Telepathy: ' Immortals have the ability enter into the minds of another read their thoughts and access their memories just by being in the same vicinity as them. However, it is not a passive ability, as Silas failed to realize that Damon was on to him until it was too late, suggesting that it takes conscious effort on his part to activate and sift through memories and thoughts. This ability can also have its drawbacks if the user accidentally reveals information that they are not supposed to know, which can blow their cover if they are trying to appear as someone else. **'Dream Manipulation:' Immortals can control dreams and the subconscious mind. Immortals can produce and modify dreams and bestow nightmares or lucid dreaming. **'Psychic Pain Infliction:' Similar to witches with their pain infliction spells, immortals are able to inflict illusory psychic pain on their victims, as shown when Silas attacked Klaus and Caroline with it. By extension of this power, Silas was also able to make Bonnie think she was suffocating to death by inflicting the same kind of illusory pain; however, she was ultimately able to snap out of it by realizing that it was just an illusion, though it is unknown if being a witch gave her additional resistance than other beings. **'Advanced Mind Compulsion:' Immortals can control thoughts, plague dreams, and erase memories of humans and supernatural creatures alike. Immortals do not need eye contact and can effect extremely powerful supernatural beings such as Qetsiyah and Klaus. Unlike vampires, vervain does not prevent an immortal from invading a victims mind. They are even able to control entire crowds from a distance with relative ease after feeding on a large enough quantity of blood. Immortals are the only known beings who can compel an Original vampire or hybrid. * Peak Human Strength: Immortals have greater than average strength that makes them stronger than most humans, enhancing their strength to more or less the same level as that of the hunters of the Brotherhood of the Five. Silas was able to effortlessly break Jeremy Gilbert's neck with one hand, even after having just awoken from desiccation moments before. However, their strength is inferior to that of regular vampires, and it is unknown how their strength compares to that of a werewolf in human form. *'Peak Human Speed:' Immortals possess enhanced speed which allows them to move faster than humans, Silas was able to carry both Bonnie Bennett and Atticus Shane and get them all out of his tomb within a short span of time, and he was also able to carry Shane all the way to the shores of the island while still getting back to Bonnie before she woke up. However, like with their strength, immortal possess inferior speed to that of vampires; after Damon beat Silas down the stairs to the foyer of the Salvatore Boarding House, Damon joked, "God, you're slow. Guess vamp-speed came with the upgrade." *'Peak Human Reflexes:' Immortals possess enhanced reflexes which allows them to unconsciously react faster than humans to stimulus. *'Super Durability:' Immortals are by no means invulnerable. However, they are highly resistant to pain and can take a great amount of damage without succumbing to physical injury. On one occasion, Silas stabbed himself through the chest with a tree limb in order to also stab Jeremy, who had him in a headlock, with only minimum flinching. He was also shot several times in the chest by a hunting rifle and was only annoyed by the hassle. *'Peak Human Senses:' Immortals have a keen sense of hearing, sight and smell that exceed those of humans although, to an unknown degree. It is possible they are inferior to that of regular vampires, considering their other physical abilities are to a much lower degree than their vampiric cousins. Weaknesses Despite being truly immortal and being incredibly powerful in their own right, immortals do possess some weaknesses, as Nature requires a balance and will not allow any living thing to be truly invulnerable. *'Broken Neck:' Breaking an immortal's neck will result in unconsciousness of said immortal until their regenerative healing ability kicks in and repairs the damage to the spinal cord. *'The Cure:' If an immortal takes the cure, they will become human and mortal again. If they were a witch prior to being turned, like Silas was, then they would return to being a witch. *'Desiccation:' Immortals who abstain from blood for extended amounts of time will eventually desiccate into mummification. Desiccation can also be caused by magic in order to incapacitate the immortal in question. *'Doppelgängers: '''This proved to be Silas and Amara's biggest weaknesses. As doppelgängers were created to offset the balance caused by the existence of a truly immortal being, they can be used to invoke linking spells that bind them to the immortal progenitor of their line, along with their fellow doppelgängers. If a powerful witch is able to link an immortal to one or more of their respective doppelgängers, it will allow them to take away the immortal's psychic abilities, leaving them, in the words of Jeremy Gilbert, less powerful than even a regular vampire. *[[Hunter's Curse|'Hunter's Curse']]':' While the Hunter's Curse still affects an immortal upon the death of a Supernatural hunter, Silas claimed to have found a way to beat it within minutes, likely due in part to his extensive knowledge of witchcraft, as the curse was created by one of the witch descendants of Qetsiyah. * 'Magic:' Immortals are susceptible to the powers of witchcraft. Qetsiyah was able to bury and immobilize Silas in a tomb while Bonnie Bennett was able to (temporarily) petrify him. Qetsiyah also calcified Amara and anchored her to the Other Side to ensure that the supernatural purgatory could not be destroyed. In addition, the Hunter's Curse can affect an immortal, though the effect will only be temporary if the immortal in question is especially powerful and knowledgeable about spells. This is inclusive of mystical objects such as the Gilbert Device, Papa Tunde's Blade, and Dark Objects. A Siphoner can also siphon the magic from an immortal, just like they can any other supernatural. *'Physical Trauma:' Minor physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds and broken bones will cause an immortal pain and also slow them down. However, this is momentary as they will heal completely within seconds, so long as they have fed recently. It seems physical trauma can hurt them anywhere on the body (ex-eye gauging, drowning). *'Poison: An unknown poison was administered by Dr. Wes Maxfield to the vampire Lorenzo that was capable of stopping his heart. Klaus used poison to kill Tim that not even vampire blood could cure. It is unknown what effect any of these poisons would do if ingested by an immortal. Unusual Weaknesses * '''Cancer: Although vampires cannot catch diseases and illnesses such as cancer, if a human has active cancer and is turned into a vampire, the effects of the cancer will increase. The regenerative properties of vampire blood will speed up the replication of cancer cells of and exceed normal stages of the condition. This was first proven when Caroline fed a terminal cancer patient vampire blood to test if it could cure cancer after learning that her mother had the exact same illness. When Jo ran tests on the patient after he was turned into a vampire, she referred to his tumors as "stage 10." It is unknown what would happen if an immortal drinks the blood of someone with cancer, but the effects would be presumably the same as other vampiric species because they have the same blood-based healing powers. Known Immortals * Silas was a young and extremely powerful witch who became the world's very first immortal man. According to Professor Atticus Shane, Silas, with the help of his best friend and fellow powerful witch Qetsiyah, created the first immortality spell in the form of an elixir, which he stole and shared with the love of his life, Amara. Silas is the progenitor of the Salvatore doppelgänger bloodline, which spawned Stefan Salvatore, Tom Avery, and presumably multiple other yet-unnamed doppelgänger descendents. However, Silas ingested the cure for immortality in 2011 after learning it had been infused into Katherine's blood after she was force-fed the actual cure months prior. As a result, Silas was reverted to being a mortal witch, and was eventually killed by his own doppelgänger Stefan, who threw a knife into his chest. * Amara was the young and beautiful handmaiden of Qetsiyah who was originally a human and who became the world's very first immortal woman after taking the immortality elixir with her soulmate Silas. According to Qetsiyah, Amara is the progenitor of the Petrova doppelgänger bloodline, which spawned Tatia, Katherine and Elena, presumably among other yet-unnamed doppelgänger descendants. Amara was reverted back to being a human when she ingested Silas' blood after he had cured himself. Trivia *Julie Plec announced before Season Four the possibility that other vampires could have lived before the Mikaelsons. Depending on point of view, this could be proven both true and false, as Silas does refer to himself as a Vampire during season four, but later resents the title during season five. *Immortals share many similarities with the character from L.J. Smith's other novel, ''Night World''. The character Maya was once a powerful witch who became the first vampire through an immortality spell as well. However, unlike the vampires in the TVD/''TO'' television series, Maya kept all of her powers as a witch and was still capable of using powerful spells, such as shapeshifting into people or animals, and was regarded as another species of vampire entirely. However, Maya was not wholly immortal. Unlike the immortals from The Vampire Diaries series, she was still able to be killed. *Silas shares similarities with Buffy the Vampire Slayer's most powerful villain, The First Evil. They both can take the form of another, and both have manipulating abilities. Being corporeal, Silas could be seen as just a stronger version of The First, being corporal and having the ability to take the form of the dead and even the living. However, the First Evil was unable to die, while Silas could die after ingesting the cure for immortality. *Vampires can turn humans into their kind, but it is unknown if Immortals can do the same. *The immortals may be the television counterpart of many species from the novel series including the Old Ones, Psychics and Kitsune. *Silas and Qetsiyah' version of the Immortality Spell was far more powerful than the one Esther used on the Mikaelson Family, giving Silas true immortality. He possesses few to no weaknesses. *True immortals such as Silas and Amara are now extinct, with both Silas and Amara having taken the other dose of the cure for immortality prior to their deaths. This is also another similarity with their novel counterpart: The Old Ones, who are also an extinct species. *Immortals are mentally the most powerful creatures on the show. However, Klaus (the Original Hybrid), Alaric (an Enhanced Original), and Mikael (An Original Vampire who feeds on vampire blood), remain the most physically powerful creatures on the show. *It was confirmed in Death and the Maiden that immortals are actually not undead-- Silas told Stefan that he has never once died and thus didn't know what dying feels like. In the same conversation, Silas revealed that immortals also don't have heightened emotions and sensations like vampires do. See also Category:Species Category:Supernatural Category:Immortal Category:Doppelgängers Category:Witches Category:Hybrids